The Open Architecture Network is Live!

The Open Architecture Network (OAN) was unveiled at the TED 2007 conference. Hot Studio spent the last seven months designing the OAN, which allows designers around the world to collaborate on humanitarian designs, as part of the prestigious TED Prize.

“Hot Studio didn’t just learn about our work—they lived and breathed it and became a part of our team,” says Kate Stohr, co-founder of Architecture for Humanity, the non-profit organization that won the TED Prize.“Their design process helped us focus our mission and the work they did for the Open Architecture Network truly reflects the difference collaborative design can make in people’s lives in every way.”

Within the first four days of launching, more than 1,290 people had registered on the network and uploaded more than 200 design projects, and several companies have already volunteered to become network and content sponsors. The network is well on it’s way to becoming a clearinghouse of designs that improve living conditions for people who have been victims of war, poverty, and natural disasters.

What we did

Starting in July 2006, Hot Studio committed our resources to the user research, information architecture, brand identity, and visual design for the project. We worked collaboratively with Sun Microsystems, the company that built the web-based application.

The OAN allows designers and inventors of all persuasions to post their projects, browse projects posted by others, comment on and review projects, discuss relevant topics, contribute to shared resources, collaborate with each other, and access project management tools to support their work. For example, an architect in Minneapolis can now team up with an engineer in Bangkok to design a new house for a family who lost their home on the coast of Thailand in a tsunami. This site will not only help create, support and implement ideas, but it will foster sustainable, replicable, adaptable, and scalable design solutions.

Each year the TED community honors up to three individuals who have shown that they can, in some way, positively impact life on this planet. The goal is to honor and empower these people by connecting them to the formidable resources of the TED community. Rather than simply receiving financial support, winners of the TED Prize are granted something extraordinary: a wish to change the world. Learn more.

About Architecture for Humanity

Architecture for Humanity (AFH) is a non-profit organization that seeks architectural solutions to humanitarian crises and brings design services to communities in need. Learn more.